Bernard Lonergan's economic writings have not been fully evaluated by economists although two recent papers by Burley (1989a, 1989b) show that work has begun. The purpose of this dissertation, therefore, is to situate Lonergan's (1944) economics essay, Circulation Analysis, in the history of economic thought of the period as well as to present a Lonerganian cycle model. / Circulation Analysis examines fundamental macrodynamic processes to explain fluctuations. It was written in the early 1940s following a period of controversy and debate that led to the current paradigms of economic dynamics. The two sides of the debate are exemplified by Harrod (1936) and Hayek (1933 (1928), 1939), in particular. The controversy ended with World War II and the emerging hegemony of the Anglo-American approach, which separated macrodynamics into growth theory (long-run supply problems), and stabilization theory (short-run demand problems). / This dissertation argues that this dichotomy is unsatisfactory and proposes Lonergan's pure cycle as an alternative paradigm. Lonergan's pure cycle restores the importance of supply-side dynamics in the short-run, without denying the primacy of demand issues in the analysis of deviations. A Lonerganian approach views demand shocks as essentially monetary, but also contends that the distribution of nominal income can cause shocks, if it is not synchronized with changes in real variables. / In this thesis a Lonerganian model is presented that uses a Kydland-Prescott (1982) type of "time-to-build" technology. The model is subjected to permanent productivity shocks to investment, which explain, with a lag, equilibrium output. The monetary and distributional shocks to demand, which are temporary, can then explain the deviation of actual output from its equilibrium value. The model uses a Beveridge and Nelson (1981) approach, which specifies changes in growth rates of variables as a function of permanent and temporary shocks. The shocks are identified because the model is recursive: first, the productivity shock determines investment and equilibrium output; then, the monetary shock determines prices and sales of consumer goods. Simulation results are presented.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.74336 |
| Date | January 1990 |
| Creators | De Neeve, Eileen O'Brien |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Doctor of Philosophy (Department of Economics.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 001072560, proquestno: AAINN63691, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
Page generated in 0.0024 seconds